NEW DELHI: After a splendid showing in the Archery World Championships, Indian archers reached Berlin to take part in the World Cup Stage IV. And understandably, the mood is quite upbeat among both recurve and compound archers.
The silver-winning showing in ‘s-Hertogenbosch not only broke the long-standing recurve duck, but also ensured Tokyo tickets with ample time to improve. And Atanu Das feels this morale is what was lacking in the team for sometime.
“It is not like we were not good enough but confidence does play a part. We needed that push. Now that we have shown that we belong on this stage, confidence is high and the boys are looking forward to continuing in the same vein,” he told this daily from Germany.
When asked if over-confidence could put a spanner in their works, the 27-year-old was quick to shoot down any such talk. “We are all experienced archers. There is a small margin between winning and losing. Performance on that given day is what is required and we know we have to remain on top of our game.”
In the compound section, the men’s team, which usually ends up with a medal, did not perform to its potential in The Netherlands. But star archer Abhishek Verma is not perturbed. “If you look at our scores, it has been consistently good. Certain times, you end up missing out but performance-wise, we are there and thereabouts,” he said after the official practice got over.
The event, which starts from Tuesday, will see up to four winners qualifying for September’s Archery World Cup Finals that will be held in Moscow. Apart from winners, top eight are selected after calculating scores of the best three performances out of four stages.
The only problem for India? Berlin marks their second participation in World Cups this year. They had missed out on taking part in Stage I due to the airlines gaffe while Stage II saw the ‘B’ team going.
“It is not going to be easy but it is not impossible either. We are starting from a disadvantageous position. But we won’t give up. If we perform to our potential, we can definitely book our tickets for Moscow,” Abhishek added.
Squad: Recurve: Men: Atul Verma, Tarundeep Rai, Pravin Ramesh Jadhav and Atanu Das; Women: Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi, Komalika Bari, Madhu Vedwan. Compound: Men: Rajat Chauhan, Bhagwan Das, Abhishek Verma and Aman Saini; Women: Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Swati Dudhwal, Muskan Kirar and Raj Kaur.